Eliana POV:
I had one stop left before I left North Gate forever.
The Moon Tree stood on a hill overlooking the pack grounds. It was an ancient oak, its bark silver-grey under the moonlight, said to be blessed by the Moon Goddess herself. Couples came here to carve their initials, a primitive promise of eternity before the official mating ceremony.
I parked my car at the base of the hill and climbed. My ribs ached, a reminder of the stairs, but I ignored it.
I reached the trunk. There it was, weathered by time but still visible: *J + E*.
We had carved it when we were twelve. Back when he protected me from bullies instead of encouraging them.
I pulled a small pocket knife from my jeans. My hand trembled.
I dug the blade into the wood. I needed to scrape it off. I needed to erase the lie.
"Vandalism now, Eliana?"
The voice made me jump. The knife slipped, slicing my thumb.
Jax stood at the edge of the clearing. Catalina was clinging to his arm, looking bored.
"I'm just cleaning up a mistake," I said, sucking on my bleeding thumb.
Jax walked over, his shadow falling over me. He looked at the carving, then at me. For a second, I saw a flicker of hesitation in his hazel eyes.
"It's just a tree," Catalina said, stepping between us. She ran a manicured nail over the bark. "It's superstitious nonsense. Only weak wolves believe in this fairy tale stuff."
"It's history," I said. "Something you wouldn't understand."
Catalina's eyes narrowed. She whispered something in Jax's ear.
Jax's jaw tightened. He took the knife from my hand.
"You're right," he said to Catalina. "It is time for an update."
He didn't scrape the letters off. He slashed through them.
*Slash.* Through the J.
*Slash.* Through the E.
My heart hammered against my ribs. To deface a Moon Tree was bad luck. To slash a mate's initials was a curse.
Then, he began to carve new letters above the ruin of our names.
*C. M.*
Catalina Manning.
"There," Jax said, driving the knife into the wood with a final, violent thud. "Now it's accurate."
I stared at the fresh, weeping sap of the tree. It felt like he had carved those letters into my skin.
"You have no idea what you just did," I whispered. "The Goddess watches."
"The Goddess doesn't care about a reject," Catalina sneered.
She snatched my car keys from my pocket before I could react.
"Hey!" I shouted.
"Oops," she giggled, winding her arm back. She threw the keys toward the pond at the bottom of the hill. "Fetch."
"That's enough, Cat," Jax said, but he didn't move to stop her.
I didn't think. I ran. That car was my only way out of here. My ticket to New York.
I scrambled down the bank toward the dark water. The keys had landed near the reeds. I waded in.
The water was freezing. I groped in the mud, my fingers brushing against slime.
"Found them!" I gasped, clutching the metal.
Then, my legs seized.
It wasn't a cramp. It was fire. A burning sensation erupted all over my skin, instantly paralyzing my muscles.
My throat closed up. My limbs went numb.
*Wolfsbane.*
Someone had planted Aconite in the reeds. It was the only plant that could paralyze a wolf's nervous system instantly. For a human, it was toxic. For us, it was agony.
"Help," I tried to scream, but only a gurgle came out.
I slipped under the surface. My eyes were open, stinging. Through the distorted water, I saw Jax standing on the bank.
He was looking at the ripples. He frowned, taking a step forward.
"Eliana?" he called out.
Suddenly, Catalina let out a shriek, clutching her chest. "Jax! My heart! I can't breathe!"
Jax froze. He looked at the water, then at Catalina collapsing onto the grass.
"Stop playing games, Eliana!" he shouted at the pond, his voice muffled by the water. "I'm leaving!"
He believed I was faking it. Again.
He turned his back.
I watched his blurry silhouette scoop up Catalina and walk away as the darkness took me.
*
